Hey all,

So in the weekend I stocked my tank with supposed cured liverock which had been in someones sump for months, and some 1/2 cured liverock which I had been curing myself. Its about 50% of each. My question is, what is my next step? I'm assuming that I have to wait for it to cycle the 1/2 cured rock before I can put anything in there?

I have read somewhere that I can add 1 or 2 corals at the stage it is at, but I'm not too sure on this one.

Also someone else has said I need to put a piece of liverock which is covered in coralline in, to kick start the coralline spread?

If you have any suggestions, please let me know. Its all a learning curve for me and theres so many conflicting stories I'm not sure what to believe is right

BTW, tested 2 days after the rock went in showed on the salifert tests:

Ammonia - 0ppm

Nitrites - 0.1ppm

Nitrates - 10ppm

PH - 8.3 ish (Inbetween 2 colours)

Phosphate - 0.03ppm

Cheers

looking good

yea i would start adding corals

what type are you thinking of getting?

Not too sure, I was gunna go and see John But maybe an anemone if it would survive? Got about $1k to spend at the mo until next pay so i'd get more than 1 coral if it would work out ok?

And I know Redwood Aquatics have just landed quite a large shipment of Corals from Fiji which are currently in Quarantine for a couple more weeks, so I'll be keen to go see what they've got

yeah get some good live rock to kickstart the coralline. your rock looks very white. With a good Alk level you should be able to grow coralline quickly if you do frequent water changes. Start with some 'shrooms or leathers

a anemone would look good in there.

what lights do you have on the tank

I'll do an Alk check tonight and post the results. Lighting is 2x T5 34" 39W with reflectors (Both white light, but I have a blue one coming to see how that looks), and 2x T8 (cant remember wattage, i'm at work) 18" I think, 1 blue, 1 white. T5's are positioned at the front and T8's at the back.

don't know that will be enough light for a nem. will be fine for Softies and LPS though. If it was my tank I would get some large Frogspawns, Hammers, Torces, Closed and Open Brains and Fungias

I'm not sure about the light either, but the old owners of the tank had a nem in there running all T8's (Whether it did well or not I'm not sure).

if you want a nem, I would do what Steve has done on his corner tank and run a single halide in the middle, with optional T5's along the edges. Thats the problem with corner tanks, as it is hard to fit a lot of flouros. A new will survive but not thrive under your current lighting.

Have spent quite a bit on getting the T5 ballast to fit the tank, might just see how we go and next pay maybe get another T5 Ballast to replace the T8's at the back.

If I positioned the nem on a higher piece of rock, would that help?

the problem with most nems is that they can and will move around

Lol, I dont know why but I find that really cool. So much more exciting than a freshwater tank!

So theoretically, shouldn't it move to a place that suits it best?

you have any suggestions, please let me know. Its all a learning curve for me and theres so many conflicting stories I'm not sure what to believe is right

I would leave the tank for a week or so, Get you calcium levels and kh levels up to about 400ppm cal and kh of abou 8-9.

Get some phostphate remover like rowaphos to get po4 below .01.

Your tank will start to get some algae which is normal.

Dont worry about the corraline algae as it will just start by itself.

Get a refractometer and keep the salinity at 1.024-1,026.

Do some research on corals and decide what you want to keep.

I would start of with about 6-7 corals like , euphylias, leathers,mushrooms etc.

Also add a few easy fish like yellow tang etc,

make sure you use ro or di water to mix salt and top up water.

weekly water change of say 20% would be good to keep the system fresh and help reduce nitrates,

If you get some biodigest from organism i would add a vial once a week for say 4 weeks to increase the bacteria in your tank.

I've got some phosphate remover, not rowaphos (but I do have some of that coming, ordered from Petplanet). Should I just pop that in my skimmer tonight? (MCE600)

As for the Calcium and KH, how can I increase those if required? Do I need to purchase additives? Or will water changes be the solution to that?

Just add the po4 remover in a bag and place in the mce 600.

You will need a buffer and cal as water changes will not increase it as it will get used quickly by the corraline and corals. initially it might be ok, best to check with test kit.

If you want lots of coralline algae add strontium.

test you should do every week,

Calcium

Kh

po4

nitrate

magnesium.

test ammonium and nitrite also, but once tank it matured you should only test once a month just to do a spot check on the tank.

Get a log book so you can record test results,

Ok got some Calcium and KH buffer, John is also going to try and get me a heap of snails for the weekend

Also ordered a refractometer, so the old hydro will go on trademe

Just out of interest, what water conditions can certain hardy corals survive in? Just thinking, if for some reason i end up with a bit of ammonia from the uncured rock (hopefully I wont) will I need to wait?

Plastic Ones?

Nah I heard they melt under the lights

:lol:

Not exactly complicated aquascaping but i like it Fmxmatt it's very attractive.

Once you got some corals in there plus a few little fishies it's going to be one of the good ones !

Wouldn't add any corals while there is ammonia but that will be over in a week or two, many of them can handle some nitrite. Trouble with anemones is you would need a lower light needing one such as a bta, and they tend to wander around till they find the right spot, and in that size tank would be best put in before too many corals, as the anemone will sting any it runs into, or get stung by them. But you cannot add an anemone until all ammonia and nitrite are gone, likely to be 6 -8 weeks, unless there is sufficient cured rock to deal with the waste coming from the uncured. The presence of nitrate is a good thing it shows that nitrite eating bacteria are already operating. In another week or so you will know with more certainty if you will have an ammonia or nitrite spike. The lighting is borderline for an anemone but IMO anyway, I think a bubbletip could live in there.

Thanks Wasp

Got home and noticed some brown algae forming on the rocks already

Just working thru the tests and the levels have changed quite a bit. Makes me wonder if there was something wrong with yesterdays test? Or is it possible the liverock in the tank has really taken hold already?

Yesterday:

NH4 - 0

NO2- 0.1ppm

NO3 - 0.2ppm

Today

NH4 - 0

NO2 - 0.01

NO3 - 5.0

Also, this is the 2nd time i've used the Salifert kits on saltwater. Both times the ammonia sample goes cloudy (where it doesn't with freshwater). Can anyone confirm this is normal?

Just finished the other tests

KH - 11.20DKh

Alk - 4.0

Calcium - 430ppm

Thanks Wasp

Also, this is the 2nd time i've used the Salifert kits on saltwater. Both times the ammonia sample goes cloudy (where it doesn't with freshwater). Can anyone confirm this is normal?

yip thats normal my freshwater kit always has clear ammonia sample, the saltwater is always cloudy, salt water must cause it to precipitate out

Both times the ammonia sample goes cloudy (where it doesn't with freshwater). Can anyone confirm this is normal?

That is normal to go cloudy in seawater.

all the test look ok.

algae will form over the next 4-5 days, diatoms will cover the tank, especially if you dont use ro or di filter.

Just wait a week or two and add corals. i would not add anemoe yet? wait 2-3 months to get the tank matured.

Also, remember that a 'cute little BTA' can turn into a rather large tank hogging monster...